Not to be confused with either the Deus Ex cyberpunk-y franchise, or Alex Garland's sci-fi noir movie Ex Machina, Deus Ex Machina will be remembered by those of a certain age as one of the most ambitious and bewildering games of all time.

A ZX Spectrum multimedia extravaganza that was a good 15 or so years ahead of its time, it featured an ambient soundtrack and vocal appearances - via a bundled audio cassette - from the likes of Jon Pertwee, Ian Dury and Frankie Howerd

Far be it from us to start conspiracy theories, but all of the above artistes are now dead - can that really be coincidence?

To be honest, the young Mr Biffo didn't really know what was the Hell he was supposed to be doing when a friend lent him a copy of Deus Ex Machina, but now that the game has been awarded a Kickstarter-funded sequel, this might be his chance to give it another go. Or maybe he'll just continue to be tainted and embittered by his formative experiences, and ignore it.

CROUCHER OF THE NIGHTMel Croucher, industry legend and creator of the original Deus Ex Machina, is once again responsible for this 30th anniversary edition, which stars no less a notable than Christopher "Evil Character" Lee.

For the uninitiated, Deus Ex Machina was a story of a life - from disgusting sperm to depressing death. Though often written off as an art house game, the original did boast Croucher's trademark humour. This is very much evident in the new version, which apparently features mini-games requiring the player to squeeze zits and "pluck pubes", during the adolescence sections. The overall aim is to reach the climactic old folk's home having made as few errors of judgement as possible. Or something. Who knows? We're as baffled as we ever were.

Already available on the iPhone and Android stores, Deus Ex Machina 2 is heading to PCs and Macs later this month. All versions include the original, utterly obtuse, Spectrum game. Further details can be found at the game's website.

Never got it. Love the audio stuff and the idea syncing it with a computer but as a game it sucked. Always thought it was a case of the emperors new clothes with people saying how great it was just because they thought it made them look smart.

As a consequence I always think of it as an experience and not a game. Certainly no replay value.

Ahhh, they don't make them like they used do, do they? I still have my copy for C64, really need to go back to it sometime. Or just listen to the audio cassette on the drive to work, that's probably easier. All I really remember from it is Ian Dury singing about being a 'fertilising agent'.

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Super Bad Advice

9/2/2015 07:18:56 am

I just can't get past the fact Mel Croucher sounds a lot like 'smell croucher', which is probably a euphemism for having a poo in the woods.

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Mr Smith

11/2/2015 08:34:04 am

I've always felt that the idea of including an audio cassette with a game, containing dialogue or other, has been frighteningly underused.

Sadly I think now it's too late to make use of the idea. Instead of walkmen everyone now owns an iPod. There's none of that sensual clickity-clack as you slip the tape inside, crank the shutter closed, and inject the play button into the body of the device.

Imagine the immersion inducing possibilities of wearing a walkman and listening to the audio notes of an investigator as you play through a survival horror, following their footsteps? Stopping and starting as directed in-game.

Or a slow-burning military game, like Apocalypse Now, where you listen to the radio recordings of a Colonal Kurtz like character, as you progress.

Sure, you can just put this audio inside the game itself, but there's something cool and tangible about an audio cassette.